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Sunday, September 4, 2011

The Periphery: Planet Descriptions and Plots

The following represents my efforts to complete steps 3-10 in Rob Conley's system. There may be some inconsistencies in the text, but I've tried to correct them.

The Periphery

The Periphery lies on the edge of a great rift.Many of the worlds were only settled relatively recently due to the fact that the Terrans’ needed to use resources in the wars against the Derngin.This subsector contains most of the former Iconian Refuge, and thus there exists a large number of Iconians.The Korx are also interested in the system because Terran rule is rather limited.Still, humans make up the majority population in the region.

Planets

Ceres: 0102

This colony is ruled directly by the Imperium and provides much of the food for the subsector.It’s primarily agricultural in bent, and the technology available to non-officials is fairly low.The farmers resent the situation and will barter for illegal weapons and vehicles if available.

Pepin: 0104

This low population planet primarily serves as a naval base.The force stationed here is a token one, and only exists because of rumors of hostile aliens beyond the rift.The imperium does not take the threat seriously despite warnings from the Iconians.There is also a research station which sends ships out to study anomalies in the rift.The few inhabitants which do not belong to one of the above organizations possess representatives to petition them for supplies.These petitions are being increasingly ignored.

Enaar: 0202

This planet possesses a Methane ocean similar to Iconia, and is inhabited by a mixture of Iconians and humans who live in a great underwater city.The atmosphere within this city is retched due to the massive amount of industrial activity which is conducted within it.There are more Iconians here than in New Iconia itself because many of them were displaced by the Imperium to serve in the factories.An appointed governor reports directly to the Emperor.

Guthrum: 0204

Guthrum is a garden planet that serves as the base for a group of pirates who operate within these parsecs and the ones surrounding.The Earth like nature of the planet is created by strikingly similar plants rather than terraforming.The pirates have a democracy where the captains of each vessel meet in congress to decide on the admiral of the combined fleets.They have an agreement with the Korx to provide them with human blood, and thus it is not a pleasant experience to be their prisoner.

Nibelung: 0206

Despite its low technology level, Nibelung provides much of the equipment used by the Imperium’s military.While not the largest manufacturer in the Imperium, it is certainly one of the largest in the region.The low tech level represents the fact that private individuals cannot legally manufacture or own items above TL 8.The dictator who runs the planet is propped up by the Imperial government in order to maintain stable shipments of goods.

New Iconia: 0304

The homeworld of the Iconians is a “waterworld” covered in liquid methane.The current dictator has risen to power due to his own personal charisma and his promises to improve the lot of Iconians within the Imperium.The imperial bases lie on the surface of the planet on great manmade islands.The Iconians lived in domed cities beneath the ocean itself.Non-Iconians are not permitted to enter their domed cities, and all dealings with them are dealt with on the surface barges.

Antioch: 0305

Antioch is ruled by a feudal structure in which the nobles and knights have access to technology while the farmers do not.As one might expect, the farmers are not happy with the situation.The Korx maintain a strong presence in the star port, where they trade technological items with the feudal society for slaves and for human blood, or “Juice.”This activity is frowned on the by the Imperium, but they have not yet acted in any way.The Korx are also willing to trade weapons with the farmers, but they farmers have very little other than their neighbors to trade.

Diteen: 0306

This is another fluid ocean planet.Unlike New Iconia and Enaar, it has a very small amount of natural land.The Scouts maintain a bass on these islands.Also unlike those planets, the oceans are comprised of hot acid rather than methane.The Iconians still have a settlement below the ocean, but these refuse to submit to imperial rule.A pirate base is located in the upper atmosphere of one of the system’s gas giants.These pirates are more directly supplied by the Korx than the ones on Guthrum, and a large number of Korx may be found among their numbers.

Prometheus: 0307

Prometheus is an uninhabited planet that once served as a scout base and research station.Despite its thin atmosphere, it possesses a number of strange ruins, left by the Ancients before they ascended.Researchers were chronicling what little they could gather from the ruins before disaster struck the colony.Fearing that they might activate one of the artifacts, an Iconian sabotaged the terraformed bubble, killing all inside.If one of the beacons is activated it will summon the Yor from across the rift to devour all organic life in the subsector.

Ondizak: 0405

Ondizak acts as a Korx outpost, from which they supply the pirates in the nearby parsecs.They maintain that they are not participating in the blood or slave trades, but this is of course false.The Imperium has mandated that none of its citizens may do business in this system.This is not a ban on any dealings with the Krox, simply those who inhabit Ondizak.

New England: 0503

New England is the private playground of a deranged noble.He has set up a feudal system similar to the one on Antioch, but has more severely limited the technology in order to achieve a strange, pseudo-medieval fantasy land.He has built castles and manors for his lords, and given them strange and ostentatious titles in order to maintain the illusion.He’s got many of the facts wrong of course, and the nobles only go along with it as long as he can keep the peasants in line.

Martell: 0508

Martell is a garden planet that provides most of the food and agricultural supplies used by the Scouts.The Scouts rule the planet directly, but unlike many of the other Imperial governors in the region they are not particularly cruel.Most inhabitants are researchers and colonists who work directly for the Scouts.The low tech level represents the fact that the colony is still being established.

Clovis: 0509

Clovis acts as the headquarters for the Scouts in this subsector.It is a small planetoid bereft of atmosphere or water of any kind.The headquarters itself is contained within a large, terraformed bubble with artificial gravity roughly similar to that of Earth.The colony originally belonged to a group of miners, but a consulate and scout base was built soon after the First Derngin war.The descendants of the miner’s still maintain their democracy, but it has little power in the face of Imperial forces.

Minerva: 0703

Minerva is a rich and prosperous garden planet, but it was not always so.It was one of the first planets in the region to be colonized, and it acted as an experiment in terraforming that proved wildly successful.The entire planet is a veritable paradise.The planet has a relatively large population, many of which are researchers studying the long term effects of terraforming.Others are nobles who maintain villas on the pristine planet.

Aor: 0806

Aor is home to a race of strange, fat aliens who have just barely made it out of the industrial revolution.They’re capable of making bolt action rifles and steam powered locomotion.The imperium has forbidden all contact with these aliens and Scouts patrol the sector in order to prevent ships from entering.

Plots

The Revolution:The Periphery is on the verge of a general revolution against the Terran Imperium.If such a revolution happens and the PCs do not interfere it will eventually be quashed.The Iconians will refuse to work with the humans, and there will be intense infighting.Since the Imperium needs this region to produce weapons and ships to fight the Derngin, they are willing to commit great atrocities to make sure business goes smoothly.

The Yor:This plot only occurs if the PCs activate the beacon on Prometheus.The beacon will summon the Yor 1d6 months after it is activated.If the PCs do not further intervene the Yor will devour world after world until almost reaching Terra.The Terrans will eventually be able to stop them with the help of the Korx, Iconians, and even the Derngin who recognize the threat.